We have a 10 week old Chihuahua puppy named Gumdrop. We brought her home 2 weeks ago. She is very sweet and affectionate, playful, healthy, and trying very hard learning all of her training - she's very smart and willing to learn.

This week she has started growling a bit. I don't mind a little growling when she is playing - I know that is normal, but I know that growling when we pick her up, or wake her up to go potty, or basically let her know she can't do a certain thing is not acceptable. She has growled at my husband 3x and myself, 2x. They are like little spoiled brat tantrums. We are trying not to spoil her - but she is copping a bit of a wee pup attitude. How do I nip this in the bud to stop this behavior? I know when she play bites, the yelp and ignore works wonders - is that what we should do here? Should we break the behavior with a loud HEY, and then blatantly ignore her? Please help!!!! I so don't want an aggressive man-eating Chihuahua.

I have a similar situation and question: my chihuahua-terrier mix (2 yrs old) always gets growly in the evening. I think it may be a chihuahua thing, but I'm not sure what to do about it. It is consistent to the time of day, and not really to the activity or location of my pup. Any advice? He has been very hard to train so far.

This might be mostly due to the change of environment. There is nothing much to get worried about eventually it will change more over the puppy is been with you only for two week right. It will get closer to you .

It sounds like your chihuahua is developing a dominant personality and I agree you should nip it in the bud asap or it will get worse. As your pup is still only a baby it will be very easy to change.

Pups who view their role in the household as a dominant one sometimes growl to warn their people away from what they see as "their space." If your pup gives a warning growl when you sit too close to her on the sofa, this is probably why. If you back off, this reinforces your pup's belief in her own dominance. Over time it may cause the growling to worsen.

Assuming your pup has been health checked with your vet, I would enrol her in a puppy obedience class immediately to teach her some basic commands.

She must learn that everything you’ve allowed her to do is a privilege. Going for a walk, eating, getting on the couch, sitting on your lap, getting a toy, a treat, etc. are all privileges. Before she does any of those things, she must get your permission. You should ask her to do a “sit” before you allow any of those things. If she jumps on the couch without doing a sit, you put her back down on the floor and ask her to do it again. If she’s sleeping on the couch and you attempt to pick her up and she growls then she has lost that privilege and must be put on the floor. The rest of the family have to follow this too. Everyone must establish that you are leaders of the pack, have other family members do the feeding and have your pup complete a command before giving the food to her.

Enjoy your Chihuahua puppy and looking forward to seeing some pictures of her!

I just met a Chihuahua today and the dog was growling and barking at me like crazy . I think you're wise to be concerned about puppy turning out the same way. I think people treat small dogs like a baby and carry is around every where and never let it get to act like a dog. You could bring him to a play group for puppies so he can learn puppies social skills . Dogs are very good at teaching other dogs how to act. You can ask as many questions as you want it won't cost any extra!